The photographer Phillip Buehler has devoted his career to exploring obsolete sites, what he calls “modern ruins.” Captured in states of evocative decay, his subjects have included an abandoned psychiatric asylum, a Cold War missile silo and an offline power plant.
In late 2019, Buehler's body of work on view in the exhibition “Mallrat to Snapchat: The End of the Third Place” — at Front Room Gallery, in New York — may have elicited more nostalgia than the others. It was a look at New Jersey’s defunct Wayne Hills Mall and, by extension, at the dying culture of middle-class suburban shopping centers across the country.
"I started photographing abandoned places the same year the mall opened, 1973, when I was a senior in high school," Buehler told The Study. "At the time, New York was falling apart, with empty piers and abandoned or burned-out buildings everywhere. Back then, nobody was photographing them, so I had no art references — most were cinematic. Two films released in 1968 made a big impression on me: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes."
Browse a collection of Phillip Buehler's photography on 1stDibs.
Hair Dryers
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
24"x 30" photograph, edition of 5, signed on reverse This photograph was taken at Greystone Park Hospital, and shows an abandoned interior space with three beauty parlor style hair dryers...
Archival Pigment
Operating Room
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
24"x 30" photograph, edition of 5, signed on reverse This photograph was taken at Greystone Park Hospital, and shows a distressed abandoned operating room...
Archival Pigment
Piano
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
24" x30" edition 2 of 5 available unframed Phillip Buehler has been photographing abandoned places around the world since he rowed to the (then abandoned) Ellis Island in 1974. Many, like Greystone Park Hospital, have since been demolished; some, like Ellis Island and the High Line, have been restored, and some, like the S.S. United States and the New York State Pavilion, are now in jeopardy. Photographs from the (now demolished) Greystone Park Hospital are featured in this exhibition and in the book "Wardy Forty" which he wrote in 2013 about the last days of Woody Guthrie.
Photographic Paper
Sink
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
This photograph is from Stephen Mallon's series of photographs: "Next Stop Atlantic" which captures the retirement of a New York City Subway car to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. ...
Four Photograph Set, Abstract Landscape Conceptual Color Photograph series
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
Included are four 18"x24", signed, editioned color photographs. Each of the four photographs depict a a different landscape painting hung on a distressed wall. From a rural town vi...
Archival Pigment
JP5 Pump Room
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
C Print Photograph 20"x30", edition of 5 please inquire about additional print sizes This photograph is from Stephen Mallon's series: "The Reefing of USS Radford." which chart...
C Print
"Sink VI", Contemporary, Abandoned, Yellow, Metal Print, Color Photograph
By Rebecca Skinner
Located in Franklin, MA
Rebecca Skinner’s “Sink VI” is an 8 x 12 inch metal print photographed at an abandoned hospital. The color photograph is of a vintage sink against a yellow wall with peeling paint. T...
Metal
"Sink III", Contemporary, Abandoned, Purple, Blue, Print, Color Photograph
By Rebecca Skinner
Located in Franklin, MA
Rebecca Skinner’s “Sink III” is an 8 x 12 inch metal print photographed at an abandoned hospital. The color photograph is of a vintage sink against a blue wall with peeling paint. Th...
Metal
"Sink V", Contemporary, Abandoned, Pink, Metal Print, Color Photograph
By Rebecca Skinner
Located in Franklin, MA
Rebecca Skinner’s “Sink V” is an 8 x 12 inch metal print photographed at an abandoned hospital. The color photograph is of a vintage sink against a pink wall with peeling paint. The ...
Metal
"Sink I", Contemporary, Abandoned, Peeling, Beige, Metal Print, Color Photograph
By Rebecca Skinner
Located in Franklin, MA
Rebecca Skinner’s “Sink I” is an 8 x 12 inch metal print photographed at an abandoned hospital. The color photograph is of a vintage sink against a beige wall with peeling paint. The...
Metal
"Sink II", Contemporary, Abandoned, Yellow, Green, Metal Print, Color Photograph
By Rebecca Skinner
Located in Franklin, MA
Rebecca Skinner’s “Sink II” is an 8 x 12 inch metal print photographed at an abandoned hospital. The color photograph is of a vintage sink against a yellow / green wall with peeling ...
Metal
Untitled 03, 5-10-15 series, 2010, Photograph, C-Type
By Paul Kowalow
Located in Yardley, PA
Paul Kowalow, Untitled 03, 5-10-15 series, c-print on supra endura, 2010 :: Photograph :: Color :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist ...
C Print
